Disclaimer: Own nothing.
Last time: The Chuunin exams begin! And the two mysterious observers turn out to be a couple of kunoichi with a grudge against our favorite blond
This time: A little about Ayame and Sasame is revealed. Kakashi decides to test Naruto using an old favorite method.
Authors Note: Please don't yell at me for the method used. It's got a little spin to it and it's the only way I could think to work in a fight without a life-or-death match.
"Okay, so what do you guys wanna know about the Twins?" Naruto asked his team. They were sitting in a hollow of one of the redwoods and had ringed the entrance with various traps. Moegi and Konohamaru looked at each other, clearly not knowing where to begin.
"How about why they're called the Twins?" The red-clad kunoichi asked.
"Well, that one's easy enough," Naruto answered, glad to start with what he knew for sure, as opposed to what he was speculating on. "Ayame and Sasame are called the Twins because you'll never find one without the other. Plus they really are twins." He tapped his chin, knowing that he was missing something. "Oh yeah, also, they attack in tandem. Both of 'em are known for it but they can do pretty well as stand alone shinobi."
"So, where are they from?" the Sandaime's grandson asked now.
"From a hidden village."
Moegi shrugged. "So? We're from a hidden village! Which one?"
Naruto sighed. "I know that. I mean the village they come from is literally a hidden village. Not many people know where it's at and as far as I know, it doesn't even have a name!" The Jinchuuriki stared over the heads of the other two genin, drilling into the slimy wood behind them as he remembered. "All I really know about that place is that it's made up of all missing-nin or descendents of missing-nin."
"Have you been there?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I got lost during my training and wound up finding the village by accident. For missing-nin, they were pretty nice. That is, until I decided to move on."
"What happened?"
"Well, as it turns out, once you find the place you either stay there or die trying to leave." The blond grinned. "I decided that I wasn't going to die but I wasn't gonna stay either."
"That still doesn't explain the Twins!" Moegi protested.
"No, I suppose it doesn't. Well, those two are after me for revenge."
"Revenge? For what?"
"For beating Ayame in a battle. See, the Twins are some pretty hot shit in that village, so it didn't sit well with either of them when I won." The former missing-nin scowled. "I guess a second reason for it is that since I'm the only one who knows the location of the village, I could, in theory, lead ANBU and the other village's equivalents straight to the village and it would be wiped out." Naruto's hand ran over the ring of the kunai on his right leg. "I'm not going to, but all of 'em are so paranoid that they don't listen to reason. Alright. That's enough for now. I'm tired and we'll need strength for tomorrow."
There was no arguing with that logic so the three found the softest bits of ground they could and fell asleep, knowing that Naruto's traps should hopefully keep them safe.
The next day, on the other side of the forest, actually within a mile or two of where Naruto was hiding with Moegi and Konohamaru, a three-man cell of jounin came to a halt after a scant few hours of sleep. Hatake Kakashi looked around with a seemingly inattentive gaze. In truth, all three of the jounin were used to running on just a few hours of rest and so were just as alert now as they would be had they gotten a full eight hours.
"Hatake-san, are you sure that your target is in the area?" one of the jounin asked the veteran of the group. Kakashi shrugged.
"Hard to say." He answered in a bored sounding voice. "I don't know where he is for sure and Naruto's always been unpredictable."
"But why him of all people?" The second jounin in the group asked. "I mean, the kid beat Hokage-sama for Kami's sake. What chance would the three of us have?"
Kakashi shrugged again. "I don't know what kind of a chance we've got," he answered, to which the other two jounin exchanged nervous glances, neither wanting to tangle with the Kyuubi host. "But I haven't seen Naruto in action since his duel with Tsunade-sama." The silver-haired man smiled, unseen, "I guess I'm just looking to see how far one of my students has progressed. Isn't that what a sensei is supposed to do?"
"I guess," the first jounin said reluctantly, "but wouldn't you rather wait until the Third Exam, or maybe the prelims if enough genin get through here?"
"Not really. You both seem to be under the notion that Naruto is invincible because he's got access to the Kyuubi's chakra and he's pretty powerful on his own. However, he does have two major weaknesses."
"What?"
"His temper, for one. Though he seems to have gotten better about controlling it over the last few years, he probably will still get mad fairly easily if you push the right buttons. Second is his love of ramen."
"How does that help us?" The second jounin asked.
Kakashi's eye curved. "Easy, Naruto sucks at using and recognizing genjutsu, unless it's really obvious."
The eyes of the two others widened as they saw where Kakashi was going. "So you're going to get him mad using a genjutsu of ramen?"
"That's a good idea, but I'd rather fight Naruto one-on-one. I'm just giving you two ideas to use if all three of us have to fight him. Now, we have to find both a heaven and an earth scroll."
"Why?"
Kakashi's eye curved again. "What's the point in fighting if there's nothing to fight for?" Not bothering to explain, the son of the White Fang bounded off, intent on finding both scrolls to tempt Naruto with.
A genin team from Kirigakure was moving towards the center of the Forest of Death, looking forward to ending this miserable exam and getting through to the third stage. Their approach to obtaining their two scrolls was to sneak up on another team during the dead of night and knock out the watch. Then they had proceeded to loot the opposing team of anything of value, including, by an extreme chance, the earth scroll that they needed to complete the exam. After lacing the area with traps to prevent any kind of pursuit, they'd double-timed towards the tower. Unfortunately, their rapid progress had attracted the attention of one masked shinobi and his team.
"Target passing Point A." The first jounin, his name was Tessai, reported into the radio that wrapped around his throat. Sure it was a little unfair to give the jounin teams radios, but in a real life situation, after a foray into enemy territory, a team would find itself low on supplies and equipment.
"Copy," Kakashi answered softly. His hands moved into a sequence of seals before stopping. The area rippled as the genjutsu took effect. By coincidence, it was the very same one that had given Team Seven so much trouble in their first exam. "This is Kakashi, genjutsu in place."
"Kisuke roger. Targets are approaching Point B."
The masked jounin felt a rush of pleasure pass through him. These genin were heading straight into the trap that the jounin squad had laid for them. It would be quick and clean. The genin would be led in circles until Kakashi released the jutsu and sent them on a course straight into a pit that had been pre-dug whereupon they would fall in and the Kage Bunshins of Kisuke and Tessai waiting inside would relieve them of their scrolls.
'Speak of the devil,' Kakashi thought, 'here they come now!' The hapless Kirigakure squad passed the boundary of the genjutsu and the trap was underway.
Meanwhile, Naruto, Moegi, and Konohamaru were bounding from branch to branch of the training area on the lookout for another scroll. The blond Jinchuuriki wasn't too terribly worried about the other teams. What he was worried about were the Kusajishi sisters. Those two were nothing but trouble and the former missing-nin was sure that they would bump into each other at one point or another. Naruto only hoped that it would be during the Third Exam when his chances of taking them out would be much higher since he wouldn't have to worry about protecting the other two or the Twin's devastating tag-team attacks.
'I don't know what you're concerned about,' the Kyuubi said comfortably. 'All you would have to do is go up to four tails and they would be nothing but bloody smears on the trees.'
'I'm not sure that four tails would be enough,' Naruto responded. 'Remember that they were caught off guard last time because they didn't know about you. This time it's different and I wouldn't be surprised if they figured out away to counter it.'
'Then let me deal with them and we'll use the full nine tails! It's not like anyone could stand up to my full strength.'
Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Gee, don't be so modest, furball. That's a good plan, but the time limit would be a problem. I can only buffer your chakra for a minute or two before all my chakra is exhausted and the youki burns us both to a crisp.'
The Kyuubi nodded, knowing that Naruto had a point, even if the demon didn't want to admit it. The time in which the pair could use the full nine tails was extremely limited. The youki and chakra would clash and the naturally more powerful youki would burn away the protective layer of human chakra. In order to keep them both alive, Naruto had to put up more and more chakra until he ran out. Thankfully, neither human nor demon had run into a situation where all nine tails were necessary, except when they were training. If Naruto ever ran out of chakra, the extreme heat and strain would do what four tails used to do to the blond, only it would be instantaneous, no chance for regeneration allowed.
They knew this for a fact because there had been one close call. Naruto and the Kyuubi had just fused and they were practicing, getting used to each other and developing tactics to used their newfound strength to its fullest. Both had underestimated Naruto's chakra reserves and the protective buffer had given out.
Thankfully, Kyuubi had been able to withdraw his chakra in time, but it had been a very close call. Naruto had had third degree burns on every square inch of his body and Kyuubi had suffered from severe exhaustion, a result of moving too much chakra too fast. With the demon unable to do any healing until he felt better, the blond had been laid up for close to three weeks, in considerable pain, healing at a normal rate until the demon was able to speed up his healing process. Though he'd avoided any horrible scarring, Naruto did have one patch of scar tissue on his left shoulder blade. Neither demon nor his host could explain why it was there, but it was, and it stood as a reminder to play it safe when using Kyuubi's full strength.
"N…Naruto…Aniki…" Konohamaru's labored voice broke through the thick wall of worry and thought that Naruto had shrouded himself in. The blond looked back and saw Konohamaru and Moegi trailing behind, both were beet red and sweating profusely. "We…gotta….st…stop…" Konohamaru managed to force out, despite his obvious breathlessness. It hit the blond that neither of his teammates were used to this pace, nor did they have his abundant stamina. The three had been going since they had woken up with no break and privately, Naruto was surprised that they hadn't dropped right then and there.
"Alright. We'll stop for a few hours."
The two younger genin's faces lit up with relief and the trio dropped towards the ground below. It wouldn't hurt to rest up and see if they couldn't scrounge up a little food, seeing as they hadn't found much besides some unappetizing plants the night before.
The instant they touched the mossy and damp ground, the two exhausted genin flopped backwards, laying spread eagle and heaving great gasps, trying to keep up with their lungs' demand for air.
Naruto scratched his long hair in an apologetic gesture. "Whoops! Sorry you two. I didn't think that I was going that fast."
The only response he got from the two genin was Moegi's feeble wave of one hand.
"Alright. I'm gonna go see if I can find us some food. You two stay here and I'll be back in a little bit." The blond strode off into the trees, his cloak rippling behind him, much like it had done during his encounter with Kakashi. Naruto smiled at the memory…
The 'Sound missing-nin' bounded through the trees, on a mission to seek out and kill any and all Oto-nins that he happened to find. The blonde's flinty blue eyes scanned the thick foliage around him, trying to find targets in this mess.
Clashing chakras caught the blonde's attention and he stopped in a heartbeat.
'That's…familiar,' he thought, scrunching up his face as he tried to place where he'd sensed chakra like it before. It hit him like a ton of bricks. "Kakashi!" he cried to an empty forest. In a flash the hood of his cloak was over his face and the blond was bounding full tilt toward the battle, hoping he got there on time.
Naruto came to a stop on a tree, not too far from the battle. He could just make out the lanky form of the Copy-nin as he fought viciously, despite being outnumbered.
The missing-nin's hands came together in a cross shape. A soft 'pop' announced the arrival of a single Kage Bunshin. The two Narutos looked at each other before the clone nodded and hunkered down, concealing its presence until the appropriate time.
"Katon! Ryuuka no Jutsu!"
Naruto watched, smirking, as the fireballs killed off many of the leaping shinobi. Kakashi appeared to be doing well before fresh gray-clad shinobi showed up and one took advantage of Kakashi's mental lapse to knock him to the ground. Even as the leader cried in triumph and the enemy closed in for the kill, the Jinchuuriki was reaching into the holsters on his legs, grabbing as many shuriken as he could.
"I don't think so."
He let fly with the weapons and managed to hit every shinobi in a vital area. The cloaked blond dropped from the tree he was hiding in and approached the jounin from Konoha as he lugged himself back onto his feet.
"You alright Hatake-san?" It pained the Naruto to no end to be unable to say 'Kakashi-sensei' but he knew that if he did that the jounin would know who he was and then Naruto would be dragged back to Konoha before he could get his shot at taking Sasuke's head.
After affirming that Kakashi was indeed okay, Naruto turned his attention to the Oto squad leader.
"You traitor! Orochimaru-sama granted you a home when you and none, and this is how you…" Naruto got tired of listening to the man blab and sent a mental command to his Kage Bunshin, who tossed a kunai and hit the man right in the neck.
The clone overstepped during his attack and toppled sideways, though he managed to straighten himself out and make a good landing. It poofed out of existence and Naruto knew that it was time for him to take his leave of his Captain, friend, and mentor.
He paused at Kakashi's plea to come back to Konoha. For a moment or two, he really considered going back with the silver-haired man, but he knew that he still had to kill Sasuke. It was just something that couldn't be left undone. Naruto resumed his walk away from an offer to return home, each step taking every ounce of his willpower.
"Wait! Who's their leader?"
The cloaked blond sighed inwardly. Well, he might as well do this one favor to Konoha.
"Uchiha Sasuke." The missing-nin took the time that Kakashi was processing that to blur away before the jounin could tempt him even more.
Naruto dragged himself back to the present, smiling wistfully.
'Now there's irony for you. Not four months later, here I am, taking the Chuunin exam all over again.' Just as the genin bent over to pick up some mushrooms, ones he hoped were edible, a piercing scream cut through the forest.
"That was Moegi!" Naruto shouted, before he bounded up into the trees, heading back to the campsite as fast as he could.
What the blond found upon his arrival were two Konoha jounin holding his two teammates in a classic restraint that involved locking one of the restrainee's arm and wrapping one of your arms around their neck. In that hand, you could either hold a kunai to the neck, or grip you clothes in order make it more of a choke, which would allow a person to be knocked out and taken away for a hostage situation or ransom, or any number of unpleasant purposes.
Everyone started at his sudden arrival. The blond had to admit, it would be pretty intimidating to see a shinobi arrive out of nowhere with a cloak flaring everywhere and dust rings kicked up from the displaced air.
"I'll give you one chance," Naruto growled as he straightened up, making sure that the two jounin could clearly see him reaching for a kunai, just before the cloak slid into position and hid his hand from view. Now they would be on their guard, watching him to make sure that he wouldn't make any sudden movements. With the spotlight on him, now it would be easier for Naruto to work out a plan to get Konohamaru and Moegi away from their captors, hopefully with some Kage Bunshins that he could somehow get behind them. "Let them go."
"Sorry, Naruto, they won't just let them go."
The blond jumped at the sudden voice and his shinobi instincts took over. Before he could stop himself, he'd whirled and whipped the kunai at the speaker, who he registered was Kakashi. The lazy jounin was reclining against a tree, a violently orange book in one hand with a man chasing a woman on the front cover. Even as Naruto's thrown kunai flashed for the man's jugular, Hatake's own arm blurred and whipped something out of the holder on his leg.
The kunai that was speeding for the Scarecrow was stopped with a sharp 'clang' and a shower of sparks. The jounin had stopped the genin's attack by using the ring on his own kunai to catch Naruto's without even looking up.
'It looks like the masked man hasn't lost his touch,' Kyuubi commented. Naruto could only nod in agreement.
"Really Naruto," Kakashi said, standing up and closing his book with a soft 'fwap'. He stowed it in his kunai pouch on the back of his belt and began walking toward the Jinchuuriki. "I haven't seen you for nearly six months and this is how you say hello?" The silver-haired man twirled the caught kunai on one finger before giving it a light toss, catching it, then throwing it, blunt end leading, at the cloaked man, who caught it and put it back in its place.
"I wouldn't have done that if someone hadn't snuck up on me!" Naruto returned with a grin. Despite meeting in these circumstances, it really was good to see the masked man again.
"A ninja must be aware of his surroundings at all times." Kakashi answered, giving his old pupil an eye-smile. "Now, I don't suppose that you'd be willing to hand over that scroll you've got on you, would you?"
The other shinobi snorted, "Yeah right. You know me better than that, Kakashi-sensei." He looked at the Copy-nin with grim eyes. "You already know what my answer is."
The tall man sighed, rubbing his spiky pale hair before smiling again. "You're right. I do know the answer." All pretense of cheerfulness vanished from the jounin's face. "How about a little wager?"
"I'm listening."
"Let's have a little test. For old times sake." Hatake reached for his pouch again. "Let's say, your scroll for one of mine."
Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Huh?" Then his eyes widened when the jounin showed him both a heaven and earth scroll.
"If you win, you can take whichever scroll you need to complete the exam."
"What if you win?" The Yondaime's son asked, catching the unspoken second half of the conditions.
"Then we get your scroll. Oh, and to make sure we know when one of us wins, how about we use these." Kakashi's right hand dropped into his pocket and wiggled.
The light and airy sound of bells jingling met the Jinchuuriki's ears.
"Oh come ON!!" Naruto screamed, clutching his head. "What is it with you and those damned bells!?" He leveled an accusing finger at the jounin. "Why not try something a little more original huh!?"
"Trust me Naruto, this test will be different from the last ones. Instead of you getting a bell from me," The hand withdrew from the pocket and, sure enough, there were two sliver bells with red cords dangling from Kakashi's gloved hand, "we have to take one from each other. Does that agree with you?" Hatake flipped his wrist and sent one of the bells at Naruto's face.
The blond caught it just before it hit him, as if it was nothing. "And if I say no?"
Kakashi's one visible eye grew sinister. "Then we abduct your teammates and all three of you fail this exam." His expression did a one-eighty, smiling again, "So. Are you going to do it?"
Naruto grumbled unintelligibly as he tied on the tiny noisemaker.
The Copy-nin put a hand to his ear, his own bell already dangling from a belt loop. "Sorry, didn't quite catch that."
All he got was a glare. "Like I have a choice."
"Good. So we understand each other!" The jounin's hand moved for his hirai-ate, and the blond knew what was coming next. The Sharingan blazed, the tomoe already spinning as the only man the Kekkei Genkai outside of the Uchiha bore it to the air. "Start whenever you're ready."
"Right." Inside, Naruto was swearing and bitching like he'd used to do as a little kid. The nerve of Kakashi! Really, putting him through this damn test again! Still, if the blond could figure out a way to get the scrolls without taking Kakashi's bell, and if he could just get Moegi and Konohamaru away from those two other jounin, Naruto might have a chance at getting them through this without having to redo this damn test! Of course, he would need to plot out a plan in advance, one that Kakashi wouldn't see through right away, and that would be difficult.
Across from him, Kakashi was deep in his own little world too as he tried to figure out whatever the blond might be planning.
'He won't look me directly in the left eye. When Naruto does look at me, it's always somewhere else on my face or in my right eye. It'll be difficult to get him under the Sharingan's spell, and I'll be on the defensive in a heartbeat if he lets out Kyuubi.'
The jounin didn't relish the thought of facing down the fox demon. After all, he was nowhere near the level of Arashi-sensei and even Konoha's Yellow Flash had struggled with the demon. Hatake also realized that if Kyuubi did indeed appear, he might decide to use Isukumi on the jounin and from what the man had seen at the South Wall, it seemed to be a demon's version of Tsukuyomi.
There was that option too. If things really got bad and both of them felt like going all out, Kakashi knew that his Mangenkyou Sharingan would be the only way he would be able to keep on par with Naruto, and the jounin didn't think the ultimate form of the Uchiha bloodline would be of much use against a demon. Naruto had weaknesses that could be exploited. Kyuubi, though, was nigh invincible, just because of the extreme power and cunning he possessed, never mind whatever demon-only justu it knew.
'Is it possible that I've overestimated myself?' the jounin wondered briefly, 'Naruto has proven himself to be able to go toe-to-toe with a Kage and come out on top.' He scowled behind his mask, 'If the rumors are true, Naruto's fought both the Kazekage and Hokage and beaten both. Still, I want to see how much he's improved on his own. Maybe Naruto could become a real sparring partner instead of a student. It sure would be better than having Gai on my ass all the time.'
The edges of Naruto's cloak flipped outward and several blurs shot from it.
Sharingan blazing, the masked jounin pulled out a kunai and deflected all of the incoming projectiles with relative ease. The attack turned out to be made entirely of kunai and Kakashi wondered for a moment why Naruto would waste his time with such a basic attack when he'd proven he was capable of so much more.
A hissing noise brought Hatake's thoughts to a screeching halt.
He looked down and saw each and every one of the kunai he'd blocked had been tagged with explosive notes.
'Oh shit!' the silver-haired man, jumping as high as he could, hoping he would be able to clear the blast and miss any real bodily harm. That was a mistake, more thrown weapons, shuriken this time, cleared the smoke from the explosion and arced for the hanging jounin. There was no way he would be able to change direction, so the masked former ANBU was forced to waste a bit more energy and brainpower defending himself from the spinning stars.
Kakashi landed from his jump, right as a second series of explosions touched off and the area was covered in thick white smoke.
'Smoke bomb,' he realized as he brought out a second kunai and took a defensive stance. Now he was at the disadvantage. Well, he corrected reluctantly, more at a disadvantage. In order for him to fight to his fullest, Kakashi needed to be able to predict the blonde's movements with the Sharingan, and in this thick smoke, his visibility was almost nil. He had to hand it to Naruto. The younger shinobi had set him up, using the shuriken attacks and explosive tags to keep Kakashi distracted while the blond himself had readied and set off the smoke bombs. 'His entire plan was to catch me in this! Wow. He really has improved. Naruto's still as unpredictable as ever, but now he's added strategy to it. Great. I'm in for one hell of a fight.'
Despite Kakashi's silent acknowledgement of his improvements, Naruto still wasn't done. His plan was never to attack or limit Kakashi's eyesight. All the blond had wanted to do was conceal his own actions. Now they would see if he could pull this off. His hands made a seal for a familiar jutsu. The clone appeared and disappeared just as fast. Now that was done. Time for the next step.
'Where are they, Kyuubi?'
The fox concentrated for a minute, gathering as much information as he could from Naruto's other senses. 'Same place as they were when you got here. Hm…Stupid idea, not to change locations when the bombs went off.'
'Maybe,' Naruto agreed, 'but you can't deny that it helps us out.' The fox had nothing to say to that as the blond headed for his real targets.
Meanwhile, Kisuke and Tessai were squinting at the billowing cloud of smoke that had enveloped the area they were in. Both were still restraining the Jinchuuriki's teammates and had been under strict orders to stay out of the battle until Kakashi-san instructed otherwise. So, it was no surprise when both jounin were frozen as Naruto charged from the smoke, heading straight for them and was already drawing back for an attack.
"Hold this one, Kisuke!" Tessai shouted as the jounin shoved Konohamaru over to his friend and partner, then moved to intercept the rather sloppy flying roundhouse that the chuunin candidate sent his way. The move was caught with ease and Tessai threw Naruto over to land at Konohamaru's feet.
Naruto shook off the throw, knowing how to fall and take a blow. He pushed to his feet, and as he did, no one but himself and Konohamaru noticed his hand slip into Konohamaru's pocket and drop something inside. Now to deal with Kakashi. The son of the Yondaime faked a rush at the jounin who'd thrown him before skidding to a halt and blurring into the dissipating smoke, which now was looking more and more like the cirrus clouds that Shikamaru liked a little less than the cumulus.
Kakashi sighed with relief when he saw his teammates unharmed. He'd heard the shouting and things but from the looks of it, they'd somehow managed to fend off the genin for just enough time and now the masked leader would be able to take it from here.
"Looks like trying to free your teammates failed, Naruto."
Naruto just sighed. "Yeah. I underestimated those two." He had to work real hard to keep a straight face. Thankfully, he managed to succeed. The blond couldn't believe his plan had worked. He undid the clasp on his cloak and threw the garment aside, the bell tied to his belt loop jingling. "Now. How about we actually get started?"
"Sure," Kakashi responded and the two sprinted at each other, arms relaxed and trailing behind them, muscles ready to snap and send kunai speeding towards the other.
Naruto led off, hand moving fast for the pouch on the far left of his belt. A kunai flashed out and Kakashi parried in a clash of sparks. The two bounced apart before racing together again, beginning a fluid dance in which it was damn near impossible to tell which shinobi had the upper hand. They were leaning and flowing, attacking and parrying, neither giving an inch, kunai bouncing off of each other so fast that the ringing was a constant noise in the little clearing. It was like watching two Hyuuga spar with Jyuuken.
Naruto leaned back and Kakashi's kunai passed an inch from his nose. Eyes tight with concentration, the blond followed through, rolling his torso with the attack, allowing him to get low and under Kakashi's guard. A flick of his wrist and Naruto's kunai was in a reverse grip. He stood, slashing up from the ground, trying to slash the jounin from hip to shoulder. The Sharingan predicted the move and the jounin's kunai in his right hand intercepted the attack and guided it up in a deflection, throwing the direction of the attack off to his right. Naruto's one visible eye went wide as he found himself wide open, kunai trapped by some weird move on Kakashi's part.
Hatake's second kunai, the one in his left hand, came slicing up and over, in a flat arc. There was a surge in Naruto's chakra then the blonde's arm forced down Kakashi's right, giving Naruto the room he needed to duck under the attack. Not a moment too soon either. The Copy-nin's second kunai passed close enough to take off a few long strands of gold hair. Naruto's lips twisted into a gleeful smirk and his empty left hand shot for the belt loop from which Hatake's bell hung. It was an awkward position to be in, but Naruto wasn't about to pass up a chance at Kakashi's bell.
Mismatched eyes went wide and Kakashi's foot snapped up, catching Naruto in the chin and snapping his head back, dazing him. Before he could recover, the foot dropped and slammed into his chest, using the Yondaime look-a-like as a springboard, giving the jounin the distance he wanted.
Both bells rang out as the two came to sudden halts, Naruto flat on his back, Kakashi on the side of one of the towering trees. The Sharingan watched like a hawk as the blond picked himself up, glaring up at the smug jounin in a tree.
"So, you think you're so clever Kakashi-sensei?"
"I've been told that on occasion," the jounin responded. Despite the light-hearted remarks, both had the most intense looks on their faces and the chakra levels in the area were almost suffocating.
"Yeah? Well then, let's see how you deal with this!" Naruto's hands came together in a cross-shaped seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" There was a burst of smoke and four Narutos stood where there had only been one.
'What was the point of that?' the jounin wondered. 'They're all standing in a line. I know which one is the real one.' His dual colored eyes widened a moment later as the clones began bouncing all around, like they were some kind of possessed jackrabbits. It lasted only a moment before the bouncing stopped and four blurs shot for the base of the tree Kakashi was currently standing on. 'Dammit! I can't tell…Which one's real?!' He didn't have time to guess, the four were closing fast and Hatake only had a twenty-five percent chance of guessing the real one. Not good odds. Well, he could even the playing field.
Kakashi's hands made the appropriate hand signs. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Suddenly there were eight shinobi. The four Kakashis sprinted down the trunk to meet the four Narutos charging straight up it, and then it was an all out free-for-all. Kunai, shuriken and taijutsu moves abounded as the eight beat the living hell out each other, then there were only two left, one Kakashi and one Naruto.
'I found him!' the two thought together, running in. Naruto lashed out with a high roundhouse, his shin aiming for Kakashi's head, while the jounin's right arm sped for Naruto's face. The two blows collided at the same time and both genin and jounin burst into smoke.
"They were both Kage Bunshins?" Kisuke asked, not believing it. Sure he'd heard the rumors about the kid taking on two Kage and winning both times, but like with any rumor he heard, the jounin had been skeptical. Well, it looked like the rumors were true.
Now the battle turned into a waiting game. If these two weren't careful, they would run through every part of shinobi combat tactics and probably make up a few new ones in the process.
"Jeeze, how many tactics are they going to use?" asked Tessai, voicing the thoughts of his long time friend and partner. Kisuke had no answer.
Konohamaru and Moegi, despite being held by these two jounin jerks knew that this battle was quickly developing into an all-out war between two experienced and powerful shinobi. Who knew what jutsu or stunt one of the two combatants would try next?
"Wow. Naruto-aniki's really gotten strong hasn't he, Konohamaru-chan?" Moegi asked. Despite the jounin's arm around her neck, neither of the Konoha-nins had any trouble breathing because of the lack of pressure. All the jounin were there to do was restrain the genin, both to keep Naruto off-balance, and to ensure that neither of the junior shinobi got hurt during this little skirmish.
The other genin nodded as best he could with an arm around his neck. "Sure has. I wonder how he did it?" He grinned. "You think he would train me?"
Moegi rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Konohamaru, you think of nothing but training! When are you going to take me somewhere nice instead if going to a sparring area!"
"Hey!" he yelped, on the defensive now. "What's wrong with training?"
"Honorable Grandson, you have a lot to learn about the female mind," Kisuke remarked to which Tessai nodded his head.
"Ha!" Moegi crowed triumph coloring her voice. "You see!? Even the guys who caught us agree with me!" Konohamaru sighed as his girlfriend began to laugh in a superior tone of voice. The Sandaime's grandson knew it would be a long time before he would hear the end of this. To keep his mind off of Moegi's continuing taunts, the genin began to think of ways to get these stupid guys holding him to go away.
High in the canopy of the trees, Kakashi crouched, watching for his prey. It was a game of patience, and Kakashi knew that no matter how powerful Naruto got, he wouldn't be able to hide for long.
He fingered a kunai. 'Come on Naruto. Were are you? Hurry up and show yourself so I can take your bell!'
A little ways off, Naruto was having similar thoughts. Even then, he could feel his patience beginning to ebb away. 'If he doesn't make the first move, then I'll have to!'
He lunged from his concealed position and headed towards where he thought Kakashi was.
The jounin grinned beneath his mask when he saw the blond coming his way. 'Good. Alright, Naruto. I hope you enjoyed round 1 because it's time for round 2!'
Well, there you have it. Sorry I did what every Naruto author ever has done and made Naruto do the bell test again. At least I managed to find a way to make it semi-interesting, right? I know I could've put in the Kusajishi sisters instead, but that's next chapter...Oh DAMMIT! I gave a little away. Oh well, consider it a teaser for next time! .
Glossary:
That genjutsu Kakashi used: I have no idea what the name is and right now, I'm too damn lazy to look it up. Suffice it to say that it makes the victim wander in circles until they catch on to the jutsu. Used here by Kakashi to lure his targets into a trap.